When you take on a new leadership role, you could have a blank canvas to build your own team. However, sometimes you inherit a legal team.
Walking into an existing team of lawyers is a different ball game. Stepping up to lead a group of people who you don’t know, and don’t know you, brings with it its own set of challenges. So what can you do when you inherit a team? How can you make the start of your new role as successful and smooth as possible?
We share some nuggets of wisdom from Stephanie Dominy, General Counsel at Snyk. Stephanie has been on both sides of the inheritance fence. Using insights from Stephanie’s conversation with Emma Jelley on “Inheriting a Legal Team“.
Get to know your new team
When you inherit a team, you have to get to know them. Who is this team you are going to be leading? What experiences do they have? How can you work best together?
Initially, you can do this is by asking for a copy of their CV to get to know their experience. Although make sure you position this the right way and communicate your reason. As Stephanie tells us, people don’t want to feel as though they’re applying for their jobs – this can cause resentment to build.
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Changes like a new leader will bring uncertainty to a team. People can worry about the safety of their role or even feel resentment towards the change. As a new leader, it’s important to reduce that uncertainty (for the team, and yourself!).
Time for face-to-face conversations is incredibly important when inheriting a team. This can be difficult if you’re in a dispersed team, or in a remote-working environment. However, make the time to have conversations with people because it’s a great way to ease uncertainty. Similarly, bring people together as a whole team to help form a bond with a new leader. This can be through team meetings and fun off-site days.
Learn how the legal function operates
It is important to get to know your team as individuals. But also understand the role of legal within the business. Learn how the lawyers operate and actually spend their time. Stephanie suggests Slack, or a similar instant messaging, as a great tool for knowing what’s going on in your team.
Similarly, she suggests getting copied in every email initially. Again, this can go down just as poorly as asking for your team’s CVs. People can feel as though they’re being spied on or not trusted. Unless you position it in the right way and explain that you just want to learn.
I’m in learning mode. I’m in listening mode when I come in. I don’t know anything about this business – I want you to teach me.
Stephanie Dominy
Try to physically listen into conversations and learn. However, if you can’t then do something as simple as being copied in emails is a valuable learning tool. It will give you insights into the business, how people communicate, and the questions legal are being frequently asked.
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Culture – adjusting to and building your own
How your efforts go down will greatly depend on the tone your predecessor has set. The general culture of the organisation will also influence this. If there was a tone of fear, for instance, your team will react accordingly with mistrust, uncertainty and, even, resentment.
The culture of the organisation has been set already with clear values that are outside your control. However, you can set values and a culture for the legal team. Be open about your ethos, culture and values as a leader to help pave the way to working together with your team.
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Dealing with the tricky situations
No matter how good your intentions are, you’ll have to face some tricky situations when you inherit a team. For example, you may inherit a legacy lawyer who is being overpaid when their skillset is considered. It can be hard as a new leader to roll back on something which has already been promised.
Spend the initial phase time getting to know the team, their experience and following their work. If things are being met in the existing team then you need to make the changes. As a leader, Stephanie reminds you to be firm about what your team needs. Not everyone is going to be happy about that and be prepared to deal with that.